Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown reportedly organized a team outing to an escape room prior to Sunday’s loss to the Arizona Cardinals.
Eagles tackle Jordan Mailata told Philly sports radio hosts Ike Reese and Eliot Shorr-Parks on Tuesday that Brown planned the escape room adventure as a way to “build camaraderie” in the final stretch of the season.
“A.J. has been great, he’s been phenomenal,” Mailata said. “A couple days before the game, we had a whole team escape room thing going on where most of the guys showed just to build camaraderie. He’s been great behind the scenes… All this talk about A.J. not being a leader, you guys don’t know him like we do.”
Brown’s leadership was called into question by some after the Eagles’ 35–31 upset loss to Arizona, when the star wideout declined to speak with the media. Brown told reporters, “I’m not about to talk. There’s nothing to say.”
The two-time Pro Bowler hasn’t scored a touchdown since November’s overtime win against the Buffalo Bills, though Brown is hardly the only Eagles player disgruntled with the team’s recent form.
In spite of Brown’s attempt to increase camaraderie late in the season, team morale might be at an all-time low following Week 17’s disappointing result, which marked the Eagles’ fourth loss in the last five games.
Philly, a once highly-touted Super Bowl contender, is running out of time to fix their offensive and defensive woes for a deep playoff run. The Eagles will finish their regular season against the New York Giants at 4:25 p.m. ET on Sunday.
